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I already moved all installed application software to drive D:, but C: (4&nnsp;GB SSD) is full since the auto update to SP3. I don't need or want things like Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, Movie Maker, or Internet Explorer and all this stuff I never asked for.
How can I get rid of them?
Please don't focus on Internet Explorer, thanks.
stacker
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 135
5
After an update to XP SP3 it could be that your Windows directory is full with the backup files that are not deleted after the install completes.
You can safely delete any folder under C:\Windows\ that begins with "$NtUninstall", the only side effect is that you will not be able to revert back to SP2 or whatever you have before. This can save a couple of hundred MB (maybe).
Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/10/remove-ntuninstall-dirs-in-windows-xp/
A tool to delete these files for you is XP Remove Hotfix Backup
Another thing to do is make sure system restore is disabled which could also be taking up space. The downside here is that you lose the ability to restore previous settings, which IMO was near useless in XP anyway.
Other than that run disk clean-up and make sure that all temporary files get deleted.
Deleting things like IE, Windows Media and others, while they are apparently useless to you will at best impair certain functionalities within Windows such as thumbnails for video files, Active Desktop and some other items. I wouldn't recommend trying that unless you really know what you're removing.
Mokubai
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 64 434
2+1 for removing hotfix uninstallers. Big honkin' warning though: DO NOT DELETE THE $hf_mig$ FOLDER!!!! – afrazier – 2010-05-18T13:44:19.360
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Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove -> Install/remove components (search the left side. There you will find it. (If I remember clearly, it's at the bottom of the left column, but it won't hurt to check them out. :))
You can produce a minimalist ISO image with NLite. That way you can tear down all the unneccessary stuff. I warn you beforehand; your first try may fail, but don't let it ruin your mood, keep trying. :) (There are also "mini XPs" on the net, I have a 100 MB ISO image which installs into 300-400 MB, it's very fast and very reliable. I am using it on an old laptop of mine. It is faster than Debian with LXDE or anything.)
Except that you can use CCleaner. A great freeware cleaning utility. (It cleans everything.)
Apache
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 14 755
@Fujishiro Thank you. ControlPanel / Software / Add Remove opens "Windows XP Setup" it offers only a few of the apps I wan't to remove. In case of IE and Media Player it shows only the option to remove the links from start menu. – stacker – 2010-04-25T18:39:50.790
Uninstalling WMP and Internet Explorer is not recommended. However, you can find applications/howtos for that on the internet. (Just do a google with: "how to remove windows media player xp"). Anyway, an XP is about 3gb (with all installed stuff if you install apps to an other partition). | If that space is just not enough for you, get a bigger card.. ^^" – Apache – 2010-04-26T09:59:00.893
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You may also be interested in moving your My Documents folder to D:\
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147
Or moving the pagefile
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886
Both can free up a substantial amount of space
charlesbridge
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 1 119
+1 I did this after installing SP2, but good one for the records. – stacker – 2010-05-18T13:06:07.547
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My brother had Windows XP on his Asus Eee PC and found he kept running out of space quickly.
He got a version of Windows XP called TinyXP which had a LOT of stuff cut out and look up less than 500 MB. It's shakily on the legal/illegal side, but it's worth a look.
tombull89
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 6 533
1
A small addition to the other methods mentioned above:
In Windows Explorer, right-click on the C disk and choose Properties.
Under the General tab, use Disk Cleanup to clear out as much temporary data as you can.
harrymc
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 306 093
1
You may not prefer to do this, but if you want to get the most out of your space, your best bet is to do a reinstall. When you install the service pack upgrade, a lot of space is taken up by backup files, etc. If you create a new install disk using Nlite, you can remove windows components entirely and integrate the servicepack files. You will end up with a significantly smaller install overall, smaller than you'll be able to get from your existing installation without breaking things.
nhinkle
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 35 057
1
IF you can reinstall your netbook, I would suggest reinstalling with a custom image using nLite. You can use it to discriminate between programs that you need and don't need and only install the ones you need.
wag2639
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 5 568
1
Revo Uninstaller will remove all traces of a program including registry keys: http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
Ninjabomb
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 151
0
Thanks for all your sugestions: I actually ended up using Sequoiaview to identify the evil doers. And I deleted them inconsiderately (among them PDF reader installer cache, Firefox database, virus scanner temporary files, etc.)
stacker
Posted 2010-04-25T18:23:18.750
Reputation: 135
You can safely remove the web browser part of IE in Windows XP if you go into Add/Remove Applications -> Add/Remove Windows Features. The core of IE is indeed a part of the OS and cannot be removed. Your whole file browsing system depends on it. – Jakke – 2014-06-26T17:28:52.037
2Removing IE has some serious and unintended consequences. As such, there is no supported way to remove it without breaking a ton of other stuff inside Windows. – MDMarra – 2010-04-25T18:49:44.163